Amalgamating apparatus.



PATENTED JAN. 10, 1905. JEAN & W. O. SOHMITT.

AMALGAMATING APPARATUS.

AP PLIOATION FILED SEPT. 23, 1904:-

3 BHBETS-SHEBT 1.

Aw altar/neg;

mvami'ow No. 780,002. PATENTED JAN. 10, 1905.

J. JEAN & W. C. SGHMITT. I

AMALG-AMATING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 23, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

M @Hommq its Patented January 10, 1905.

JULIUS JEAN AND WILLIAM G. SOHMIT", OF DENVER, COLORADO.

AlWALGAWlATlNG PFAHATUS...

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 780,002, dated January10, 1905.

Application filed September 23, 1904. Serial No 225,546,

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JULIUs JEAN and l VIL- LIAM C. SOHMITT, bothcitizens of the United States, residing in the city and county of Denverand State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Amal-- gamating Apparatus; and we do declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to thefigures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

Our invention relates to llDDl'OVGlYlGlllJS in amalgamating apparatus orapparatus adapted to catch and save the free precious-mctal values,whether found in pulverized ore, in placer material, or in the tailingsfrom mills.

The invention is especially valuable for use in saving the fine mineralvalues usually held in suspension by the water, and therefore carriedoff as slimes in the tailings from other machines.

Our improved apparatus is provided with an extensive amalgamating oramalgamated surface. The term amalgamated surface as used in thisspecification has reference to a surface properly coated with mercury,This coating or amalgamating of the surface may be effected in anysuitable or well-known manner. In actual practice we employ a coppertray which is first coated with silver, after which the mercury coatingis applied, since the silver has an aflinity for mercury and the latterreadily adheres thereto and may be uniformly spread thereover to form athin coating which while adapted to catch the free mineral values it isnot removed by the action of the pulp. It may, however, be scraped offfrom the plate after it has become loaded with the precious-metalparticles, whereby an amalgam is formed.

The following is a brief description of the main features of ourconstruction as illustrated in the drawings: The base or lowermost partof the apparatus consists of a tank having outwardly-fiared walls onthree sides, the tank being also provided on three correspondingsidesuwith a trough or launder into which the overflow from the tankescapes and is disconsisting of copper.

charged from the machine. In this main tank is located the amalgamatedtray, preferably This tray is provided with outwardly-flared walls ontwo opposite sides to conform in a general way to the adjacent flaringsides of the tank in which it rests. One end of this tray is providedwith rightangle bends or offsets, and between these offsets is a wallwhich is inwardly inclined from the bottom of the tray. Mounted abovethe tray and projectii'ig thereinto is a verticallyadjustable bottomlesscasing, the lower edges of whose side walls are raised suiiicientlyabove the bottom of the amalgamated tray to allow the pulp in the formof tailings to pass thereunder and overflow into the launder after thepulp has been impoverished of its free precious-metal values. Theadjustment of the bottomless casing is preferably such as to maintain adepth of water therein greater than the depth of the bottom tank andamalgamated tray. In other words, the discharge of pulp to the machineshould be sulliciently rapid to cause the level of the pulp in thecasing to be higher than that in the tray and tank. Mounted on the topof the casing is a pulp-receptaclehaving an opening on one sideregistering with one extremity of a conduit which extends forwardly andis downwardly curved, whereby the pulp passing therethrough is caused toflow in a rearward direction. This pulp-receptacle is also provided withtwo downwardly-extending open-end ed pipes whose upper extremities arecovered with mesh material, whereby only comparatively-clear waterpasses through the said pipes. These pipes terminate a short distancebelow the bottom of the amalgamated tray, and their extremities projectinto the corners formed by the offsets in the tray, the function of thesaid pipes being, through the instrumcntality of the discharge of watertherefrom, to prevent the accumulation of solid material in the cornersof the tray. This accumulation is undesirable, since it would renderuseless a portion of the amalgamated surface of the tray. The dischargefrom these pipes cooperates with the discharge from the main curvedconduit to cause such an agitation or boiling of the pulp within thecasing as to prevent the accumulation of solid matter on the tray and tocause all the free particles of gold and silver to be brought intodirect contact with the amalgamated surface.

The several parts of our improved apparatus are readily separable fromone another, whereby a clean-up may be quickly and easily efiected.

Having briefly outlined our improved construction, as well as thefunction it is intended to perform, we will proceed to describe the samein detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in whichis illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of our improved apparatus,showing in dotted lines the bottomless casing lifted out of theamalgamated tray for purposes of a clean-up. Fig. 2 is a verticallongitudinal section taken through the apparatus approximately on theline 2 2, Fig. 3, and shown on a larger scale than in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isa cross-section taken on the line 3 3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a fragmentarydetail view in perspective of the amalgamated tray.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate a tank or receptacle having a plain bottom6, outwardlyflared sides 7, and an outwardly-flared end 8. Surroundingthis tank on three sides is a launder 7, which receives the overflowfrom the tank. The sides of this launder are downwardly inclined fromone end of the tank to the end launder part 7, which is provided withoutlets 7 for the discharge of the tailings. In this tank 5 is placed atray 9, having outwardly-flared sides 10 and an end 12 inwardly inclinedfrom the bottom 13. r The end 12 is connected with the flared sides byparts 1&1 and 15, occupying positions at right angles to each other,each part 1 extending inwardly from the part 12 and each part 15extending outwardly to a flared side 10 of the tray. The opposite end 16of the tray, as shown in the drawings, is shallow and vertical. Theupper edges of the flared sides of the tray are provided with slots 17open at the top and adapted to receive bolts 18, held in place by wingednuts 19. By removing these bolts the tray is readily detachable from thetank for clean-up purposes.- Mounted above the tray and projectingdownwardly thereinto is what 1 will term the bottomless casing 20,having parallel vertical side walls 21 and end walls 22 and 23. The sidewalls terminate a suitable distance above the bottom of the tray,whereby the material after being deprived or largely deprived of itsfree precious-metal values may pass under the said sides and overflowfrom the tray into the launder. If the material after passing under thesaid sides still contains any free values, they will be caught by theflared sides of the amalgamated tray.

The device is provided with side brackl paratus will be readilyunderstood.

ets 2 1, which engage brackets 25, mounted on the receptacle 5. Thebrackets 24: are slotted, while brackets 25 are provided with openingsto receive bolts 26, held in place by thumbnuts 27. The casing may bevertically ad justed by loosening the thumb-nuts and raising or loweringit, as may be desired. The upper part of the device 21 is provided witha U-shaped bend 28 for strengthening purposes. The rear .end 23 of thedevice 20 is curved, as shown at 29, and its lower edge occupies aposition in engagement with or directly above the shallow end 16 of thetray. The front end 22 of this device passes downwardly into thereceptacle 5 in front of the inclined end 12 of the tray. The sides ofthe device 20 near the front end are slotted, as shown at 30, to receivethe parts 15 of the tray.

Mounted on the parts 28 of the device 20 at the forward end of theapparatus is a recep tacle 31, provided with angle-brackets 32.0nopposite sides. These angle-brackets directly engage the said parts 28.This receptacle 31 is open at the top and provided with a rear opening33, where it communicates with a rearwardly-extending conduit 3 1, whichis downwardly inclined from the receptacle, its rear portion beingcurved, as shown at 35, and its lower extremity being forwardlydirected, as shown at 36. Both ends of this conduit 3 1 are open. Thearea of the cross-section of the discharge end 36 is considerably lessthan that of the forward extremity of the conduit. In fact, thecross-section of the conduit continually diminishes from the receptacle31 to this discharge extremity in order to increase the force of thedischarge. The bottom of the receptacle 31 is provided at or near itsrear extremity with two openings surrounded by upwardly-projectingflanges 37, which are covered with mesh material, as shown at 38.Leading downwardly from these openings are pipes 39, whose lowerextremities terminate in the corners 40, formed by the end 12 and theadjacent parts 14 of the tray, whereby the discharge of water into thesecorners is suflicient to prevent the accumulation of solid materialtherein.

The device 20 is provided at each end with a chain 41 to facilitatelifting the said device out of the tray when for any purpose it isdesirable to do so. This may be done by connecting the two chains 41witha chain 42 and applying any suitable lifting power to the latter. Inthis event the device 20 may be raised to the position indicated bydotted lines in Fig. 1.

The rear end of the receptacle 5 is provided with an opening 5",normally closed by a slidegate 5. WV hen it is desired to drain thereceptacle, this gate is opened.

From the foregoing description the use and operation of our improvedamalgamating ap- Assum- IEO IIS

ing that the parts are assembled, the material to be treated isdischarged into the receptacle 31 and the pulp passes downwardlytl'irough the eond uit 34: into the amalgamated tray, and this pulp isdirected rearwardly, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2. At the sametime the water passing downwardly through the pipes 39 enters theforward extremity of the tray and is given a rearward and upwardimpetus, the result of the two forces being to place the pulp in athorough state of agitation, giving it a boiling or rolling tendency,whereby the bottom of the tray is kept clear of solid matter,whereby theamalgamated surface of the tray is allowed to catch the free values. Ifit were not for this agitation of the pulp in the tray, the solidparticles of matter would settle on the surface thereof and render thesame inactive for saving the values, and thus destroying the utility ofthe apparatus.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is j 1. Thecombination of a bottom receptacle having outwardly -flaredwalls, anamalgamated tray located in said receptacle and havingcorrespondingly-flared side walls, a bottomlcss casing mounted above thetray and projecting thereinto, the said casing being suitably supportedand vertically adjustable, and a feed-receptacle suitably supported andprovided with a rearwardly and downwardly extending conduit having aforwardly-curved discl'iarge extremity terminating in suitable proximityto the bottom of the tray, the said receptacle being also provided withdepending open-ended tubes extending downwardly into the forwardextremity of the tray, the upper extremities of the tubes communicatingwith openings in the receptacle whereby the tubes receive their supply.

2. The combination of a bottom receptacle having outwardly -flaredwalls, an amalgamated tray located in the receptacle and also havingoutwardly-flared walls, a bottomless casing projecting into the tray andhaving its lower edges supported above the bottom of the tray, afeed-receptacle mounted on the casing, a rearwardly-extendingdownwardlycurved conduit connected with the feed-receptacle, anddepending open'ended tubes also connected with the feed-receptacle theirlower extremities terminating in the forward part of the tray for thepurpose set forth.

3. The combination with a bottom receptacle having outwardly-flaredwalls, a removable amalgamated tray located in said receptacle, abottomless casing projecting into the tray and supported to leave aspace between the lower edges of the tank and the bottom of the tray,the distance between the side Walls of the casing being less than thewidth of the bottom of the tray, a feed-receptacle, and con duitsleading downwardly from the feed-receptacle into the tray for thepurpose set forth.

4. The combination of a receptacle having outwardly-flared walls, thesaid receptacle being provided with an amalgamated surface, a vertical]y-ad j nstable bottomless casing mounted in said receptacle and raisedsuliiciently to permit a discharge underneath the lower edges of thetank, and suitable means for feeding the material to be treated into thereceptacle.

5. The combination of a receptacleprovided with an amalgamated surface,a bottomless casing projecting into the receptacle and verticallyadjustable, a feed-receptacle mounted on the top of the casing andprovided with downwardly-extending conduits terminating respectively inthe forward and rearward portions of the receptacle for the purpose setforth.

6. The combination of an an'ialgamated tray having outwardly-flaredsides, an inclined end extending inwardly from the bottom of the tray,said end being connected with the flaring sides by angular parts, abottomless casing projecting into said tray and having slotted sides toreceive portions of the angle parts of the tray, and suitable means forfeeding the material into the tray through the bottomless tank.

7. The combination of a bottom receptacle having flaring sides, anamalgamated tray located in said receptacle and havingcorrespondingly-flared side Walls, a vertically-ad justable bottomlesscasing projecting into said tray, and a feed-receptacle provided withconduits for carrying the material to be treated downwardly into thetray, the said conduits being located between the side walls of thecasing.

8. The combination of a receptacle, a removable amalgamated. traylocated therein, a vertically-adj ustable casing projecting into thetray, said casing being open at the bottom, and

means for discharging the material to be treated into the tray betweenthe side wallsof the casing.

9. The combination of a bottom receptacle surrounded by a launder toreceive the overllow from the receptacle, a removable amal gamated tray,a casing n-ojectin into the tray and open at the bottom, the said casingbeing vertically adjustable and ha\"ing the lower edges of its sidewalls above the bottom of the tray, and suitable means for dischargingthe material to be treated into the tray between the side walls of thetank.

In testimony whereof we ailix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

JULIUS JEAN. lVlLLlA M G. SCHMIDT. i/Vitnesses:

.DENA NnLsoN, A. J. OBnirnn.

